Denise Silber’s experience and trajectory in this industry are absolutely breathtaking. As one of the most sought-after thought leaders in the VR in healthcare space, she is here on the Straight Outta Health IT Podcast to talk about what she does and give advice to people that want to go down the VR path. Her goal has always been to find what is best for physicians and patients through the use of technology, specifically new ones.

The purpose of VR is to immerse the person into a virtual situation that is so real, making them forget they are using a headset. Through the use of advanced 3D technology and graphics, the user is believing they are in a different scenario while they can be in their office or in their living room. Denise also shares how these technologies have been used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prices of headsets have come to a point in which they are more affordable and accessible, and here comes the link between the social determinants of health and technology. Denise reflects on the concept of embodied empathy and how adding a layer to reality through augmented reality could potentially help surgeons. Challenges like adoption, onboarding, and usage always come this the implementation of new technologies in any industry, but specifically in healthcare, there’s a lot more to deal with.

Denise has had a beautiful journey in this industry, and she offers great advice for young women that want to follow in her footprints. The conversation around women in these professions will change in the future due to the new generation’s mindset of not doing things as their parents did and using technology that is currently available for them.

Tune in to this terrific episode with a powerful woman that is pushing the industry to new limits!

Women Leaders & Influencers in Healthcare.

Amy Brown has over 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors, working in healthcare, public relations, startup management, policy development, quality improvement, and insurance operations. She came by Straight Outta Health IT to share her knowledge not only as a health tech leader but as a businesswoman at the forefront of advancements in our industry. She recalls her work in the government and how she took a leap of faith in her entrepreneurial endeavors.

She also reflects on being a woman working in Corporate America and how she climbed that ladder to finally get to the C-Suite positions. Amy shares a story in which, in a meeting, a comment was made implying that women were extremely emotional and they all had to take a break. Having emotions during a conversation is not about being male or female; it’s part of being a human being.

Amy then explains her goals with Authenticx, not only internal but external as well. From creating a place where her employees can be their truest selves to helping their clients understand the needs of customers out there. The US healthcare system is broken comparing it to other wealthy countries that have a similar system, and Amy shares the results of a study made by the Commonwealth fund.

To really drive improved health outcomes, you have to understand not just the clinical data. We also must understand the social and environmental aspects of human lives because those impact behaviors associated with healthcare. Amy shares that once the industry leaders acknowledge these factors, the industry will start to be better at delivering care. She also encourages people that have had the entrepreneurial call within themselves to trust that voice and take the leap of faith.

Tune in to this wonderful episode with a powerful woman that is driving the industry forward!

Women Leaders & Influencers in Healthcare.

Myriam Zahedi is the first-ever Millennial to be on the Straight Outta Health IT Podcast! With an extensive background in app development in the digital healthcare landscape, Myriam is transforming the lives of thousands, if not millions, of people worldwide. Early in her career, she discovered the human-centered element in design, and she just fell in love. She explains what this concept means and how it has guided her work.

She shares what she is doing at Apple and how they enrich people’s lives by developing apps that genuinely care for their needs and desires. Gamification plays a significant role in today’s app development since most users want to get some sort of recognition. Myriam reflects on how this term is being used and how it is affecting the way she is approaching her work in the health and wellness sector.

One of the biggest challenges Myriam has faced in her career as an app developer in the health sector has been data privacy. The general public wants to have enough confidence in any company to give them their data. Another challenge in this industry has been that it’s been absolutely male-managed. Myriam shares her experience bringing another point of view to create significantly cross-functionality apps for all kinds of people.

Tune in to this conversation about putting the humans first in everything you do, and how transferable skills can be used even when you are pivoting industries!

Today we come with great news!

First and foremost, we want to thank you for your constant support of our podcast. It has been an incredible experience for us to share what leaders out there are doing in Healthcare IT.

We have a great announcement to make! Women play a vital role in healthcare, so as Season 1 is coming to a close, we will dedicate our last 6 episodes to a special series titled: Women Leaders and Influencers in Healthcare. Starting August 30th, we will be publishing episodes weekly, to highlight the accomplishments and terrific work of different women across the globe.

Stay tuned for much more content!

Kirk L. Barnes has had a fantastic trajectory in our industry. From working with Takeda when it was a startup, all the way to leading GA Tech's Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) accelerator, to founding TransPharMed, his journey is full of knowledge and insights what it takes for startups to successfully launch their technology solutions. He quickly learned a common thread in all his positions: how do you translate what technology does to the people that will benefit from it?

Kirk's experience and leadership spans a wide area of expertise including but not limited to :  marketing, technology development, product launch strategies, innovation, and much more. He shares his thoughts on digital healthcare's growth in recent years compared to other parts of the healthcare ecosystem.

He also delves into what startups should do at the beginning of their journey to ensure they're on the right track to the road to success.  CIOs are the “New Kings on the Hill,” as Kirk says, due to the pandemic and the rise of digital care solutions and security issues to keep protected the healthcare system.  He reflects on how the adoption of technology has changed since the pandemic and offers an example of how Remote Patient Monitoring Technologies has emerged as an important platform for the delivery of care.

Finally, Kirk shares his thoughts on the common pitfalls entrepreneurs face when launching their businesses. He closes this episode by offering entrepreneurships practical advice and how programs like "Together Health" can support startups and them get on the right track.

Tune in to this terrific episode!  You can find us on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, Amazon, Spotify, Stitcher, etc.

Being a disruptor in healthcare and the health tech field isn’t easy, but today’s guest will tell you how he’s done it. We are pleased to feature Dr. Jefferey Cohen, a prominent name in the industry, entrepreneur, physician, private practice owner, and innovator. He shares his beginnings in medicine, recalling how his father and a nun plotted for him not to be into medicine but catapulted Jeff’s passion for it.

Dr. Cohen shares his meaning of “health” and its difference from healthcare. He also touches upon how the business of healthcare should be in the near future, establishing the change from a fee-for-service system to a value-based model. Innovation and technology have played an important role in Dr. Cohen’s career, hence the more than 30 patents in which his name is included. He dives deep into his relationship with technology, saying that it is driven by a curiosity about always doing things better.

After that, Dr. Cohen shares his work with Suburban General and the Alpha Lab Health flagship program from Allegheny Health Network. His team is now finding ways to repurpose an old healthcare facility to help the community. Dr. Cohen then goes deeper into the social determinants of health and how these affect the community and their access to quality care. There is a trust issue between low-income patients and the medical providers that must be addressed immediately, as Dr. Cohen highlights.

Through the accelerator and Alpha Lab Health, they are bringing in kids to show them a different world through coding classes, allowing them to check out how to make a difference out there. Once a problem is defined, there are a lot of smart people that will engage with it and solve it.

People do not embrace change so willingly, but for change to happen, there needs to be a strong voice that calls out every aspect of the industry. Dr. Cohen shares his thoughts on the changes that may come up in the future for the healthcare industry. Tune in to this conversation about change in our industry and how an accelerator can propel new ideas to improve people’s lives.

The American healthcare system is broken, but what can we do to improve it? Today’s episode of Straight Outta Health IT features an incredible doctor, writer, and influencer that worked with The Permanente Medical Group until 2017, where he was responsible for the Kaiser Permanente members on both coasts of the US: the incredible Dr. Robert Pearl, MD.

Dr. Pearl, shares how he got into medicine, thinking it was far away from politics, but little did he know at the young age of 17 that politics are intrinsically involved in medicine. Since then, he started to understand the political determinants of health to the point that he has written various books on the subject. He acknowledges that the American healthcare system is broken, from infrastructure to technology, and it’s the same system and way of working as it was 150 years ago.

He shares his thoughts on what American medicine needs to do to have more holistic care, starting with changing the system from a fee-for-care system to a prepaid-type basis. He also cannot stress enough the importance of teamwork and collaboration in medicine.

This is when Kaiser Permanente enters the game, and Dr. Pearl explains his experience at Permanente, the delivery branch of the company. Kaiser was one of the first organizations to truly embrace and adopt the use of technology, which lowered their mortality rates and increased customer satisfaction.

Robert also goes deep into medical education today and how physicians today can pave the way for future doctors. There is strong cultural baggage to healthcare, and Robert reflects on the impact this has on the delivery of care, specifically on the racial disparities that this country has. Robert leaves with 3 thoughts, one for doctors, one for patients, and one for listeners.

Tune in to this episode for a heartfelt and deeply emotional conversation about our industry.

Let’s talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly about Social Determinants of Health. The United States healthcare ecosystem continues to struggle with providing affordable, equitable access to preventative and episodic care.  This week’s guest is John Matthew Douglas, CEO of SDoH&E Gold Standard Collaborative, Founder and CEO of iPressForward, LLC  and The Lonely Entrepreneur (TLE) offers his perspective on the subject.   As a SDoH advocate, John facilitates the collaboration and communication of information geared closing the gaps in the social determinants of health and education. In this episode, he offers perspective on the struggles our US healthcare system has in addressing health disparities, inequities, its economic impact and how education can be a way to start shifting this paradigm.

John Matthew also explains how, right now, we are being reactive to the conditions in the space instead of being proactive to change the characteristics of our system. He cannot stress enough the amount of money the system would save if there were more programs that address the root causes contributing to SDoH&E.

Finally, he reflects on the inequities in clinical studies with regards to race and gender.

We are honored to have JohnMatthew share his thoughts on this episode of Straight Outta Health IT, so please tune in!

Ever wondered what’s a typical day in the life like serving the primary healthcare providers for the President and Vice-President of the United States, especially during the Covid-19 Pandemic?  Well on this week’s episode of “Straight Outta Health IT”, we feature a man who has and can offer us a first had account and much more!  As a member of the His White House Medical Unit Medical Office from 2019 to 2022, Bernard Toney, Jr. provided primary care and contingency planning for the Office of the President, Vice President, and First Lady.

Bernard is a military veteran whose passion for healthcare was ignited after he tragically lost his best friend in a drive by shooting as a teenager in Stone Mountain, GA.  This violent episode completely changed his life and put him on a path that ultimately lead him to serve as a healthcare provider in The White House.  In this episode, Bernard reflects on his experience as a member of the White House medical staff during one of the worst care crisis in a century.   He goes on to validate how this diverse team of healthcare professionals met responded to the unique challenges of providing high-quality healthcare care to our nation’s leaders.

We also asked Bernard what’s life is like after serving as a White House staffer?  Specifically, his new role as a member of the National Institute of Health and his focus on vascular research.  Finally, we explore his passion and efforts to address the impact of health equity and disparity issues across the globe.

Tune in to enjoy this fascinating conversation on the state of the US health system, democracy, diversity, and inclusion.  You don’t wanna miss this episode!

We discuss this week on “Straight Outta Health IT” the challenges and opportunities impacting the delivery of health in rural communities.

Our guest this week is an expert on how technology is transforming rural healthcare.  He’s a true innovator and thought leader and has lead his organization in the highest adoption of technology that supports healthcare delivery process.  We’re excited to welcome Michael Archuleta to our show! Michael shares his life journey coming from a difficult upbring in the inner city to the sacrifices made by his mother to migrate his family to rural Colorado.   This transition to rural Colorado is where he found his passion for learning and technology.   We further explore Michael’s perspective and insights on rural health including technology adoption and digital transformation taking place at his healthcare organization.   As a product of a rural Georgia our host Christopher, finds similarities in how healthcare was delivered pre-EHR in the roots of his own hometown.   Michael also points out in this episode that Health IT is a journey, not a destination and the adoption new tools can be a challenge for many healthcare providers. Especially those in rural settings.

Finally, Michael offers practical strategies for transforming your IT department from a cost center to a revenue generating part of the business.

Tune in and enjoy a great conversation with one of our industry’s most prominent innovation leaders!